Coffee with the Jets: Taking a huge risk with Mike Pennel

Pennel, 25, played the last three seasons with the Green Bay Packers, but he was released Jan. 9 after a tumultuous season. He was suspended twice for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, causing him to miss the first four games and the last four games.

The Jets found that they weren’t nearly as close to competing as they thought they were after a 10-6 season in 2015. It’s going to be tough to do much about that this offseason. The Jets are projected to be more than $8 million over the 2017 salary-cap limit, the worst projected situation in the league.

The Jets figured they’d get at least three good years out of Revis when they signed him to a five-year, $70 million contract in 2015, but they saw a dramatic decline last season, putting his status in doubt. His return hinges on renegotiating his contract because the current cap charge ($15.3 million) is prohibitive.

“There’s nothing wrong with Christian. He just needs to play,” Bowles said of Hackenberg. “Like I said when we signed him in the offseason, Fitzpatrick had a great year last year. Geno was coming back strong as his number two and Bryce was making progress as the number three. So he was allowed to have a redshirt year. Next year, he has to show some progress and make the same jumps.”

Revis spent much of the dismal year for the Jets getting torched by receivers and by the media. Every bit of criticism was deserved as his play was horrendous and his demeanor or ego rarely allowed him to show any admittance of that fact.

Hughes believes the most likely option to be under center for the Jets come Week 1 is Mike Glennon. Hughes said that the Jets seem to have their eyes on Glennon, who has spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.